Facebook is getting grilled. A Whistleblower reported that Facebook knew young girls were suffering mentally from viewing pencil-thin peers on Instagram (owned by Facebook). Since the Whistleblower testified to Congress, complaints have broadened out to include political postings, either because they are, or are not, allowed on Facebook. Two examples: they squash news about Hunter Biden, and promote climate change warnings.

Another complaint is the bombardment of ads that follow any random product search. Here’s an example. Last year, I wanted to embellish a 1923 Will Rogers story about corsets. To find a modern-day version I went on Spanx.com. I perused the site (professionally of course) for a few minutes. I found some good material to embellish my story, including this ‘product review’ from a customer: “I give this product a thumbs up, but initially I couldn’t get the damn thing on.” Then, for months, ads for ladies’ underwear showed up on my Will Rogers Facebook page!

Meanwhile in Texas… Who’s in charge of our border with Mexico? If you said “Kamala Harris,” you are mistaken. The Mexican Cartels rule the border. For a fee of at least $5000 each they transport immigrants across the Rio Grande and turn them loose. At a rate of 1000 immigrants a day, that adds up to real money. And it’s easy money since they aren’t confronted by Border Agents on horseback.  And the best part for the Cartels is that while our Border Patrol is tied up managing these immigrants, the Cartel slips millions of dollars’ worth of drugs across unprotected areas. Along the border, Texans are shouting, Let’s Go Brandon!

Last week the Cartel fired shots at National Guard troops on our side of the river. They are causing more chaos than anyone from Mexico since Pancho Villa a hundred years ago. Back then, when President Wilson got word of Villa’s raids across the border into New Mexico he ordered the Army, led by General Pershing, to stop the attacks. Why doesn’t President Biden follow Wilson’s example?

Also last week, I watched CNN more than usual. For a while it seemed Trump was still President. I learned that Congress has subpoenaed him, hoping he will admit he ordered and funded the January 6 attack on the Capitol. Democrats in Congress are determined to find out from Trump’s staff if they provided rifles to the insurrectionists. (The answer is no).

President Trump definitely deserves blame for not stopping his supporters when he learned what the worst of them were doing in the Capitol. I hope he testifies. I hope they release the videos of people peacefully wandering through the Capitol Rotunda. Do you think Speaker Pelosi will testify about the lack of preparation in the days before January 6 when officials knew trouble was brewing?

Erin Burnett, on her CNN show, interviewed Treasury Secretary Yellen. Erin stated that the top 1% of income earners pay 40% of taxes and the top 20% pay 80%. She then asked Secretary Yellen how much those groups should pay. Instead of honestly answering the question, she rambled on, saying big corporations should pay more and 140 other nations agree with her, that stepped-up basis for inheritances should be eliminated, the Trump tax-rate reductions should be eliminated, and the top tax rate should be 39.6%. Secretary Yellen never came close to answering that direct question. She could have said, with a straight face, “The wealthiest 1% should pay at least half of all income taxes and the top 20% should pay about 90%.” That’s the goal, although no one in the Biden Administration will admit it.

Concerning another Biden goal, Senator Joe Manchin has been taking most of the flak for opposing the $3,500,000,000,000.00 bill. Now Senator Krysten Sinema of Arizona is getting attacked for the same position. Protesters chased her into a Women’s restroom and yelled at her in her stall. The Senator is fortunate it wasn’t an old-fashioned outhouse of years ago. The protesters would have pushed it over with her in it. After she escaped from the toilet on the Arizona State University campus and got seated on a plane to Washington, Sinema was harassed again, by two illegal immigrants. No relief for Sinema, in or out of a stall. Now, if protesters ever tried to attack and film Sen. Manchin in a restroom stall… Well, you can probably guess where they would end up. And their expensive smartphone.

Tomorrow is Columbus Day, also currently known as Indigenous Peoples’ Day. I think my Cherokee friends approve.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers: (on Columbus Day, Monday, Oct 11)

“Being an Indian I don’t mind telling you that personally I am sorry he ever found it [America]. The discovery has been of no material benefit to us, outside of losing all the land. And I am proud to say that I have never yet seen a statue [of Columbus] in Oklahoma.” WA #190, Aug. 1, 1926

“The Columbus celebration has an added significance to Los Angeles, as they want to celebrate the good fortune of his landing on the Atlantic instead of the Pacific side, because if he had landed out here, he never would have gone back to tell the Queen.  He would have stayed right here and nobody would have ever known about America but him.” WA #29, July 1, 1923